Immovable Barrier (1)
A week had passed since I'd taken up residence at the Lord's Castle.
I couldn't keep wasting time forever. Reluctantly wrapping up my planning, I prepared to leave.
"I'll likely be back around the time of the next Lord Council."
The territory would run itself just fine without me, the way it always had. Nothing to worry about there. Some of the Lords barely even looked after their lands, spending all their time wandering abroad. Gwangrang was a prime example.
Ploto bowed his head with the same unchanging expression as always.
"I shall make the preparations at once, as you have instructed."
Aside from Ashel, I decided to take only one additional attendant. I needed someone thoroughly familiar with Calderic's geography who could also handle the miscellaneous work. Since we'd be traveling through other Lords' territories, dragging a large entourage around wasn't an option, and tacking on a few extra people would just be a hassle with no real benefit. One person would be enough.
"I am Varos, First Butler."
A male elf with glasses and a cold demeanor offered a polite greeting. I'd told Ploto that race and gender didn't matter—just find the most suitable person. This was who he'd brought. His level was well over forty, which was quite high.
"We'll be traveling across all of Calderic. Can you find your way without getting lost?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Prepare to leave at once."
That settled the party. Ploto had already taken care of the packing as well.
"Prepare an ordinary carriage—nothing too conspicuous."
Riding around in a massive, ornate carriage covered in crests like the one I'd taken from Grand Lord Castle didn't seem like a good idea. It would leave my location and route completely exposed to the other Lords. For that reason, I intended to keep my identity hidden as much as possible while traveling through the other territories. None of the Lords would likely do anything strange just because they knew where I was, but there was always a "what if." Being careful couldn't hurt.
Once everything was ready, Ashel and I boarded the carriage waiting at the building's entrance as Ploto saw us off.
"Then I wish you a safe journey, my Lord."
The carriage rolled past the knights saluting at the castle gate and surged through the main gates of the Lord's Castle.
The first Mystery I was targeting was a defensive one: Immovable Barrier. The name was a bit unusual, but when it came to defensive capability, this Mystery was so exceptional it could practically be called absolute.
In the game, its skill rating had been 9-star—the same as Emperor's Soul.
Of course, it came with an equally fatal penalty. But for me right now, acquiring an outstanding defensive ability was more important than anything else, so the penalty barely mattered. Instant Kill was the ultimate offensive ability, but it only activated on direct physical contact, which meant I had zero defensive capability. I was in such a precarious state that a single punch from someone around level 20 would blow my head clean off. That was the first thing I needed to fix, one way or another.
The Tyrell Mountains.
The place where Immovable Barrier was hidden was somewhere in the Tyrell Mountains, on the northern frontier of Salogal, the 5th Lord Territory. I didn't remember the exact location as clearly as I had with Super Regeneration, because Immovable Barrier wasn't a Mystery I'd originally found and acquired in the game. I'd merely watched a video of another player recording themselves obtaining it—one that had gone viral at the time.
It had been some kind of ruined dungeon, I think.
It wouldn't be easy to find, but I was determined to locate it and claim it somehow. I could always ask Gwangrang, the 5th Lord, for permission and mobilize a large workforce... but that was a method I was reluctant to use for a number of reasons. Gwangrang herself wasn't exactly someone you could have a reasonable conversation with, and if she asked me to explain why, I wouldn't even know what to say.
And after obtaining Super Regeneration, I'd become even more certain: borrowing someone else's help to acquire a Mystery was not a good idea. The moment anyone so much as touched the Mystery's sigil, it would be absorbed by that person. If someone found it first and gobbled it up before a report even reached me, there'd be no way to make them spit it back out. It'd be no different from cooking a feast and feeding it to a dog.
Hiring a guide, the way I had when searching for Super Regeneration, is probably the best approach.
The carriage was currently traveling along a forest road. Calderic was a land where the nine Lord territories encircled the central Grand Lord's domain in a ring. The route I'd chosen to reach the 5th Territory cut diagonally across the outskirts of the 6th Territory—the fastest, most direct path. As for the actual navigation, Varos, who was currently driving the carriage, would handle that just fine.
"......?"
I looked at Ashel sitting across from me. She'd been sitting motionless as always, but then she flicked a glance out the window. Just as I wondered if something was happening, the horses snorted and the carriage slowly came to a halt.
"Haha! You've got some nerve, traveling through a forest like this without a single escort!"
A booming, gravelly voice rang out from outside the carriage. I had a sinking feeling.
Bandits?
In this medieval-style fantasy world, bandits and monsters were the kind of thing you commonly ran into on the road. When I'd traveled from Grand Lord Castle to Enrok, I'd had a full complement of knight escorts, so I'd never encountered a bandit gang. But this time was different. It wasn't a situation I hadn't considered, but it seemed I'd already run into it for real.
"You lot in the carriage, get down here! Hand over everything you've got and get the hell ou— gyaaah!"
And then the screaming started. Sounds of something being shredded to pieces and horrific shrieks rang out in succession, and then the outside went quiet. I cracked the window open and poked my head out to find corpses strewn about, and among them, Varos wiping blood off his glasses. Around him, something like wind had taken form, shimmering, then faded away... was that a spirit?
Varos met my eyes and bowed his head apologetically.
"My apologies. Those pieces of trash briefly interrupted our travel."
"......Right."
Varos climbed back onto the driver's seat, and the carriage set off again. It didn't look like Ashel would even need to step in for dealing with common bandits.
After that, we continued on, occasionally encountering more bandit gangs and monsters along the way. A long time passed, and we finally arrived at our destination: Salogal, the 5th Lord Territory.
Korwehen City, a major metropolis on the northern frontier. After spending a night at a high-end inn to wash off the fatigue, the first place I visited the next day was the city's Adventurer Guild.
"So anyway, at that life-or-death moment, I grabbed the bastard monster's horn and just—"
"Cilia, how about just the two of us grabbing a drink tonight? Hmm? I made a killing on the last commission, so I can even buy you the expensive stuff."
The inside of the guild building was, how should I put it, exactly the kind of atmosphere I'd imagined. People carefully scanning the commission notices posted on the walls, people showing off and bragging about their exploits, and people hitting on the staff at the counter... I glanced over the scene for a moment, then approached the counter, where a Beastkin woman who'd been handling her work greeted me with a bright smile.
"Welcome, young master. Is there a commission you'd like to post?"
She must have judged from my attire that I was here to post a commission, not take one. I nodded and asked in return.
"Who in this city is the adventurer most familiar with the geography of the Tyrell Mountains?"
She answered without a moment's hesitation.
"You're looking for an adventurer well-versed in the Tyrell Mountains. You need a guide, then?"
"That's right."
"Would an adventure party be acceptable, rather than an individual?"
"That's fine."
"In that case, I'd recommend the Blue Fox Adventure Party. Their leader, Rodin, is a Special-grade adventurer with quite a reputation here in Korwehen. They're sitting right over there, actually. Would you like to meet them?"
The place she pointed to was a table by the second-floor railing, where several men and women sat gathered in conversation. I followed her up the stairs, and as we approached, they turned questioning looks our way. Five adventurers, men and women, each armed with different weapons—swords, spears, bows, and the like.
The staff woman addressed the man with the highest level among them, who had a massive greatsword propped up beside the table.
"Rodin, a commission request. This young master is looking for a guide familiar with the Tyrell Mountains."
"......Huh? A commission?"
He looked back and forth between me and the woman, scratching his beard, then spoke to her.
"Chelsea, we already agreed to take a merchant escort commission to Polip City in three days. Didn't you know?"
"......What? You did?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry, but we won't be able to take your commission, sir. You'd best look for another adventurer."
The woman looked flustered, as if she hadn't known. I asked her.
"Are these people the most knowledgeable about the Tyrell Mountains in the guild?"
"Yes, they are, but... I'm sorry, young master. Since they already have a commission, I'll introduce you to some others."
I shook my head. Judging by their levels, their skills were clearly solid, and if I was going to hire anyone, I wanted the best.
"I'll pay extra on top of the commission fee. Any chance you'd cancel that other job and take mine instead?"
At my words, the man named Rodin let out a slight, incredulous laugh, then answered.
"We can't do that, sir. If we cancel a commission we've already taken, we'd have to pay several times the advance we received as a penalty."
If adventurers could just cancel commissions on a whim, the clients would suffer for it. That was only natural. I asked again.
"How much is the penalty?"
"The advance was 5 gold, so we'd have to pay double that—10 gold."
"I'll cover the entire penalty myself and hire you for 20 gold. How does that sound?"
The terms must have sounded quite generous, because Rodin's eyes went round. But in the end, he shook his head.
"It's not just the penalty. There's also the matter of our reputation with the client. If we break a commission we've already accepted just to take another one, what would they think of our party?"
"I'll raise the commission to double—40 gold."
Rodin's pupils wavered.
"I'm truly sorry, but we really can't, sir. There's the matter of our reputation with the—"
"Triple. 60 gold."
"......reputation...... that we have to consider......"
"Five times. 100 gold. That's my final offer."
Rodin's words cut off. The other party members swallowed hard, staring at him.
With a scrape of his chair, he slowly rose from his seat and bowed.